With the Grand Daughters on the Whanganui River I tossed and turned that night after making the offer. An offer which was immediately accepted I might add. What was that offer? What had started as a very cruisy commercial four day dory trip on the Whanganui River, with me basically offering [...]

So, what is the terrôir of your adventure? Does it matter? What about the locals. Who are they? Do they matter? Terrôir is a French term that loosely relates to a “sense of place” and is usually applied to wine. In particular it applies to the unique combination of soil, aspect, sunshine and general [...]

Big Days! In fact, Big Big Days! I have always felt that multi-day river trips are to be enjoyed, to be savoured, to be at least as much as possible, unhurried. They are meant to be a highlight experience, rather than something to be endured. And yet the standard three day trip on the [...]

Nature Is So Good For The Brain When we go out into nature, Williams says, “our brains shift in a way that’s really good for our mood and health.” Normally it takes several days to get in the right space. First there is the rigging (boater talk for getting all the equipment sorted and [...]

The Dictionary and the Eclipse of Nature Did you know that the 2007 Oxford Children’s Dictionary, aimed at seven-year olds, dropped words such as ‘almond’, ‘blackberry’ and ‘crocus’ and replaced them with ‘analogue’, ‘block graph’ and ‘celebrity’? The 2012 edition reinforced this break with nature. This process of writing nature out of young minds. [...]